Pinky Swear
by Haruka Sumairu
Summary: 012. "I pinky swear that if you tell me your wish, I'll tell you mine. And then I'll do what I can to make it come true."


**Happy New Years~  
**

* * *

"Nagihiko-san! It's time for us to go out now," calls Nagihiko's mom.

Nagihiko stands up from his bed and says, "Yes, mother, I'm coming." He hurries to put on his nice clothes for the occasion and runs downstairs, slamming his door shut.

Nagihiko and his mother are heading to the neighborhood park, where a grand New Year's celebration is taking place. "Be back soon after the midnight," his mother tells him. She hands him some money and hurries him off to enjoy himself.

Now he is wandering around the park, bumping into people occasionally while looking for something interesting to do. When he sees a stand giving away European-style goods as a New Year treat, he remembers how his family decided to come back to Japan after a year in Europe.

He remembers his tearful departure to Europe after Sanjou and Nikaidou's wedding; he remembers the tears and the promises he and the other Guardians had. _'I wonder if I might bump into one of the Guardians here,' _he wonders._ 'What will they say when they see me back from Europe?' _

Now they are in the 8th grade. He will be transferring back to Seiyo after their winter vacation, just like the first time he came back from Europe. He sighs contentedly, thinking about seeing all of the Guardians - most especially Rima - again.

After some more walking around, he finally finds a place where it is not as crowded. He buys himself some mochi and sits down on a bench to eat it. As his eyes wander around the different stalls around the park, he sees one selling accessories. Laying on the table, there is a white ribbon headband with a small rabbit (rabbit, since 2011 is the year of the rabbit) in the center of the bow. As Nagihiko stares at it, he soon finds himself imagining the headband on Rima's head.

_'This would be perfect for Rima-chan'_, he thinks happily as he walks over to the table. "Excuse me, sir, I would like to buy that headband," Nagihiko tells the vendor.

The vendor stares for a moment, debating to himself whether it is a girl or a boy asking him. But he soon chuckles, realizing that, even though the young man in front of him has long hair like a girl's, it is, in fact, a boy.

Which could only mean one thing, if he was a boy.

"Of course, young lad," the vendor smiles at Nagihiko. Nagihiko hands him the money. As he searches for a bag to put it in, he casually asks, "Is the headband for your girlfriend?"

Nagihiko is caught off guard for a moment and blushes; when the vendor sees him, he laughs. "Ah, young love. I bet she's quite cute, eh?"

"N-no, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a...a friend, really," he explains in a stammer. _'Well, she thinks of us as rivals...' _he thinks with a frown._  
_

"But, she is cute..." Nagihiko trails off, earning an amused look from the vendor as he hands Nagihiko his bag.

"Well, here you go. Have a good year, son!" He pauses for a moment, and adds, "I wish you luck with that girl of yours!"

Nagihiko blushes again and thanks the vendor. He walks away from the stand and checks the bag, only to find that the vendor has included two matching rabbit charms. He turns around abruptly and sees the vendor grinning at him. Nagihiko smiles back and nods his head in thanks, and runs off.

* * *

Now it is almost midnight. Everyone in the park is gathering around to watch the fireworks that will be sent to the sky soon. Nagihiko hurries to the crowd, and in his haste, he bumps into someone and they both fall down.

"Ah, sorry!" he apologizes as he gets up and dusts his pants. He looks down to see the person he bumped, and, to his surprise, he sees Rima.

_'How ironic,'_ he thinks. The said girl looks up and sees Nagihiko. A tiny, surprised gasp leaves her mouth as she says, "Nagihiko?"

"Hi Rima-chan," the indigo haired boy greets her.

"Wha- You- you're back from Europe?" she stammers in a surprised voice.

"Well, yes, or else I wouldn't be here," he retorts. "I'm back for good this time, and I'll be coming back to school after winter vacation."

"Really?" she asks in a happy voice. A small smile forms on Rima's lips, which almost goes unnoticed by Nagihiko. Almost.

"Yeah," Nagihiko smiles his signature smile. Inside, he wonders why Rima is suddenly being so nice to him, when usually, she would have made a remark by now.

"Glad you're back then," her voice suddenly changes back into it's usual, emotionless tone. "Anyways, you owe me for bumping into me and almost making my coat dirty."

Oops, Nagihiko just jinxed it.

Nagihiko sighs, wondering what he did wrong. Then he reaches into his bag and takes out the headband. "A headba-"

She is interrupted as Nagihiko places the headband on her head, slowly and gracefully as if it is an expensive crown. When he is done putting it on her head, his hands run down her hair, feeling the smoothness of her perfect, golden locks. Rima's heart pounds fast as she wonders why he is doing that.

"There," he smiles, "now I don't owe you anymore."

Rima's hands reach up to touch the white headband. "T-thank you Nagihiko," she whispers, putting her pride away for just a moment.

Nagihiko smiles and leads her to a tree close-by. They sit down under it, relaxing and waiting until the fireworks start.

"Wow, it's almost New Year's, huh, Nagihiko?"

He nods and asks, "So, have you thought of your wish for the new year?"

"Yes, I have," she replies hesitantly. "But...it's a difficult wish to come true, so I'm having doubts on whether it will come true or not."

Nagihiko gives her a dedicated look and says confidently, "Don't worry, Rima-chan. Whatever it is, I'll do everything in my power to help it come true."

"Y-you'd do that?" Rima asks silently, in awe that Nagihiko would help her in such a way. He shakes his head.

"But," Rima says stubbornly, "I'm not telling you my wish unless you tell me yours."

Nagihiko just grins at her pride. "Sure Rima-chan. How about this?" He holds out his pinky at her and continues, "I pinky swear that if you tell me your wish, I'll tell you mine. And then I'll do what I can to make it come true."

The teenager pauses and adds, "We'll say it at the same time at midnight, when the fireworks start, so it won't be so awkward. Pinky swear?"

Rima smiles softly and holds out her pinky. "Pinky swear." Their pinkies link tightly.

The two head over to the large crowd that is forming, and manage to find a spot where they can see the sky. As they wait for the fireworks, the two review their wish and wonder what the other would say once they heard such a personal wish of theirs.

And finally, it is one minute until midnight. Rima and Nagihiko twiddle their fingers nervously, both slightly regretting making a promise of telling the other their wish.

Suddenly, Nagihiko remembers something. "Oh! Rima-chan," he says as he digs in his bag, "a vendor gave me these two charms, and I figured you could have the other."

Rima gives him a bewildered look. "_Two_ charms? Why would a vendor want to give you _two_ charms? And for free?"

Nagihiko just shrugs his shoulders and pulls out the charms. The matching rabbit charms are a simple silver, but it shines with a sparkling light, even in the darkness.

"Here Rima-chan," he says. Nagihiko hands Rima the charm and she holds it close to her heart.

"Thank you again Nagihiko." Rima smiles sweetly at Nagihiko, who is surprised but happy that he finally gets to see her smile. Nagihiko feels he is lucky because he gets to see Rima's last smile of the year, and the smile that is the brightest and happiest of all.

As they stare into each others eyes they hear a loud _**BOOM! BOOM! **_They both look up to see the fireworks starting, all in different colors. The fireworks give off bright lights and lovely colors, marking an amazing beginning to the new year.

Remembering their promise, Rima says, "We'll say it in the count of 3."

"1,"

"2,"

"3!"

"My New Year's wish is to be closer to Rima-chan!"

"My New Year's wish is to be closer to Nagihiko!"

They both shout their wishes as loud as they can. After a pause, the two teenagers realize that they have the same wish: to be closer to each other.

As they both smile widely at each other, only one thought runs through their mind. _'This is going to be a good year.'_

And so it all starts with a "pinky swear"._  
_

* * *

**I'm sorry I didn't post up a Christmas one-shot, but hopefully this New Year's one makes up for it? I really didn't get the idea for this until yesterday, and didn't start typing until a while ago, so...I'm kinda winging it. o_o"  
**

**I'm really going to be studying a lot this month, but I'll be updating my other story _Festival_ tomorrow.  
**

**I hope to post experiment with different writing styles. I'll be going on fanfiction in my spare time, so please support me in this new year! **

**And thank you so much for the great memories (and fanfiction) I shared with you guys this past year. Hope you have a Happy New Year, and I look forward to making more new memories with you all! :)**


End file.
